"Atheism is not merely the denial of a dogma. It is the reversal of a subconscious assumption in the soul..." - Chesterton
"We do not really face two rival versions of Christianity. We face Christianity on the one hand and, on the other hand, some other religion that selectively uses Christian words, but is not Christianity." - J. Gresham Machen

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What I believe:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
I believe he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
I believe he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
I believe he descended to the grave and on the third day he rose again.
I believe he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
I believe we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. I believe the Bible is the word of God, without error or contradiction.
I believe God is sovereign over all the universe; omnipotent and omniscient in all things. I believe that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I believe that pretty much covers it.

Friday, 20 September 2013

My Stroke of Brilliance (I Hope)

I had an interesting day this past Tuesday. I was invited to Prairie
Bible Institute (PBI) in Three Hills Alberta to address a discipleship class of
about 30 young people, to inform them and hopefully enthuse them about Alpha.
My presentation was well received. I ran through a Power Point slide show on,
“What is Alpha” (not all of them were familiar with it) and a quick overview,
“How to run Alpha.”Especially relevant
to them, I spoke about the new Youth Film Series, coming out right now. The
students learned how Alpha can be a low-key, non-judgmental and non-threatening
way to introduce others to Jesus.

I shared with them that their generation is the most un-churched
generation in history, and yet many of us, for various reasons, feel awkward in
communicating the hope that we have to others. Alpha can be an effective way of
overcoming our fears in this regard.

Let’s back up a bit. Years ago I took some classes from Briercrest,
another good Bible College. I was also the Alpha coordinator at my home church
in Edmonton, and I was able to earn Field Education credits for my work in this
area. (“Field Education” is a requirement in many Bible School programs.)

So… a brilliant idea occurred to me: we in Alpha might approach various
Bible colleges with this idea: that their students be offered the same
opportunity to earn such credits in their own educational path, by participating in or instituting Alphas in
various churches, either locally or in their own home churches.

Briefly, this would accomplish a number of things;

•It would raise
awareness of Alpha in one of the very generations we are yearning to reach –
youth and young adults.

•It would, “multiply”
our own efforts, by sending out a number of enthusiastic young students eager
to earn credits toward their religious education by participating in Alpha

•Again, 30, or 20, or 10
young, “ambassadors” approaching local churches on Alpha’s behalf would increase
our effectiveness beyond just one Regional Director trying to do the same
thing.

•Done properly, it will
raise up a whole new generation of leaders; leaders within Alpha, or young
people developing their leadership skills through Alpha and moving on to lead
in other areas of church or missions.

Thus the call and the trip to PBI. The next logical step is that I
return, hopefully with an assistant or so, and present a more intensive
training on how actually to run an Alpha. This has already been discussed with
both the discipleship coordinator at PBI and the school’s president, both of
whom are familiar with Alpha and enthusiastic supporters.

Please pray with me that this will indeed come to pass, that much fruit
will come out of this relationship, and that other Bible Colleges might join
this vision so that many more of our teens and young adults would be inspired
and equipped to reach out into their communities through Alpha.